Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 318 (Color Image)

0318	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

234 PEKING TO LHASA

On September 6 Pereira marched 19/ miles to

Sung-shih. The Mekong flows through a deep

valley between bare desolate hills. There was a

steep winding climb for 24 miles to the top of Ku-la, 8655 feet. Then the path wound up and

down along the hill-side. At 74 miles is Jung, a

scattered village of about sixty-five houses. From

there a well-graded path led to Tang-ku-güng at

10 2 miles. The Ka-go-bo mountain could be just seen from here bearing 198°. There was some

snow on its sides, but the peak was not visible.

Farther on there was a steep descent to a gully,

then a slight rise to Sung-ting at 174 miles, and

down to cross a torrent and a short rise to Sungshih, 7126 feet. Here many villagers came out

to meet Pereira, bringing presents of fruit and

cakes.

The hills were now higher, and many spurs had

sharp razor blades. They were mostly bare in

the Mekong valley, but there were sometimes trees

high up in the side valleys.

Pa-mei (Chinese Pa-mi), 14 miles, was reached

on September 8. The path was fair and lay near

the river. At 3 miles was Na-pu. At one point

there was a good piece of scaffolding to support

planks for a roadway against sheer rocks. At

12 miles there was a very steep climb to Pa-mei,

8381 feet, which was hidden in a small fertile fold

high up on the hill-side. It is a village of twenty-

five families. The weather was fine and hot in

the middle of the day, but windy in the afternoon. ht

Pereira noted a number of beautiful little blue yk

flowers growing out of small bushes. There was

a snow range visible not far back on the opposite

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