Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 280 (Color Image)

0280	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

200 PEKING TO LHASA

Chao-t'ung, which he reached on the 12th. The

plain was now one mass of poppy in full bloom

—mostly white, but also red and purple. The

Governor was, however, quite unaware that any

poppy is being grown !

Another excursion he had intended to make

from Chao-t'ung to Wei-ning he had to. abandon

after the first day on account of brigands. So on

April 16 he set out finally for Sui-fu on the Yang-

tze, taking with him an escort of four men with

single-loading Mauser rifles. The Chao-t'ung plain

was fertile at first but gradually became poorer,

and the villages consisted of wretched hovels.

This poor country extends eastward into north-

west Kwei-chow. At 9 miles the road led up

a narrow valley to Chuang-k'ou Ya-k'ou, 6926

feet, at 11 miles. It then led down the narrow

Wu-tsai Ho valley to Hsiao-si-tang, 6150 feet, at

18 miles, a village of twenty hovels. The day was

very cloudy and chilly with much wind and a

slight drizzle.

On April 17 the road lay down the same rather

poor valley with hills from 500 to 1000 feet on

either side ; but at 9 miles there was a very steep

rocky descent between clefts in rocks to a much

lower level. The scenery was now magnificent,

the hills rising to 1000 or 2000 feet in height and

the valley becoming fertile again, with crops of

wheat, barley and poppy. At 204 miles Ta-kuan

Hsien was reached. It is a dirty, crowded town

of 670 families, at an elevation of 4002 feet.

Pereira heard a cuckoo for the first time this day.

Ta-wan-tzu was reached on April 18 after a

march of 17 miles. It is only 2622 feet above

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