Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 334 (Color Image)

0334	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

250 PEKING TO LHASA

in a part of the valley where there was some

shrub about.

Being in the region of small bands of brigands,

Pereira's party and the rest of the VVa-shi kept

close together, and in certain places two or three

of the men went on ahead to reconnoitre. But

besides the Chinese soldiers Pereira did not see a

single house or person since he had left Meliting.

It was very cold at the start on this march. But at 8 A.M. the sun appeared and it was warmer.

Again in the evening it was cold and windy.

From the camp he got a bearing, 120°, to a

high snowy peak 8 to 10 miles away, which he

thought could not be Bacot's Pic Desgoudins (in

Tibetan Ga - mu-ni), as this must be farther

south.

On October 8 he marched 131 miles and en-

camped on the Ding Chu. It was chilly getting up at six o'clock in a tent at nearly 14,000 feet

elevation ; and even when the sun rose and it

was warmer it was also windy. He followed down

the same valley, climbing 300 feet up a spur and

then dropping some 800 feet to the Ding Chu

valley. From the spur downward there were

grass valleys, and in the Ding Chu valley the hills

were grassy and formed excellent pasture. On

the lower slopes were fir and spruce. But owing

to the brigands there was not a living soul in

these parts—except a convoy from Litang with

rice and money for the Batang garrison which

Pereira met in the valley. The road then lay up

the Ding Chu valley and was easy except in a

few rocky places. The stream was forded three

times. It ran in a stony bed and was 30 yards

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