Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 218 (Color Image)

0218	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

166 PEKING TO LHASA

brushwood. At 3 miles there was a very stony,

steep, steady climb for 14 mile to the top of the Pu-dé La, 13,650 feet, from which may be seen a

fine panorama down the Dam Chu valley. To the

south some of the hills have small glaciers. A

fairly easy descent leads to the Dam Chu valley,

which is flat and half a mile wide with four farms

in it. The Dam Chu is a deep torrent 30 feet

wide flowing between rocks. The road, after

striking the river, passes through a short and very

rocky gorge, and at 12 miles reaches the Pem-bar

valley, which is about a mile wide.

Pem-bar has two hundred monks and thirty-

five families. Four of these families were Chinese,

and they brought Pereira presents of eggs, cab-

bages and Chinese wine. On the S.S.W. is the peak of the sandy Riu-ma, about 16,000 feet.

On September 24 Pereira marched down the

very fertile Mé Chu valley, and at 16/ miles

reached Urjien Tanda. This valley was second

only to the Mi-ru valley at Jung-erh. It was

undulating, cut by many spurs, and there were only

occasional flat stretches. But there were a good

many small villages of from four to nine houses

surrounded by cultivation. At 134 miles was the Roka La, some 500 or 600 feet above the

valleys on either side. From it to the right front

could be seen the Bar-jung monastery, which has

110 monks and is situated very picturesquely on

the top of a spur 800 feet high. A winding

descent from the pass leads to the Sa-la Chu, soon

to be called the Jung Chu, and the road along it

to Urjien Tanda, a dirty little village of thirteen

families and a solitary Chinese. It lies in a narrow

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