Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 276 (Color Image)

0276	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

198 PEKING TO LHASA

Yangtze, and at 201 miles he reached Ta-ching-pa,

a village of 130 families, situated at an elevation

of only 2411 feet on a small fertile plain by the

Yangtze, which is here known as the Chin-sha

Shiang or River of Golden Sand. It was here

very hot and masses of flowers were in bloom

on the way. Pereira especially mentions seeing

quantities of a beautiful purple lily.

In this land every man's hand was against his

neighbour's. Many houses have a tower to which

to flee in case of Lolo raids. And every Chinese

or Nosu who crosses the river requires a guarantee

for his safety. The Nosu are also at feud among

themselves, so a similar guarantee is required in

passing from one tribe to another. Chinese

merchants get a surety for protection and visit

them for trade.

April 9 Pereira spent in Ta-ching-pa. In the

morning he walked down the narrow street, which

was now crowded for the market, and saw many

of the Nosu who had come across the river. Un-

luckily he could not see the black Nosu, the pure

bred, as they had committed a raid and carried

off twenty Chinese, so were not allowed over.

The Nosu Pereira saw were all of a white serf class,

chiefly descendants of kidnapped Chinese and in

features mostly like the Chinese. Some had

trousers and some had skirts, but most wore over

the shoulders the famous Nosu cloak made of felt

and dark brown or black in colour. Some had

cropped hair and some wore the queue tied round

the head, with a piece projecting like the Nosu

horn. They appeared to be a cowed race. Many

were of the beaked-nose type and were probably of

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