National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

286   THE SECOND CROSSING.

Sam are small   es ; villag ~ Gompa-song a miniature nunnery; Shaï or Gilung-shatse, a 004

village. Then comes Sirchung, above which there are innumerable manis and chortens. j Then follow Nesar, Dungtang, Tsa, Ngangtse, Sangöng and Gyäbra. Dechän-toksar ;0

is on the left side of Yamo; then follow Langmar, Samo-gompa, Kating, where 7   ti?

tents were pitched and quite a hundred Tibetans appeared. Then come Rungdo ,bk

and Tonggyang; Döle-gompa is a small nunnery. The villages Dokang, Gaok and Poo on a right tributary, were not visible from the road. Munkang is a comparatively large village at the mouth of Bup-chu. Then comes Linga-kok below the terrace of Linga-gompa. In the Bup-chu valley the following villages are said to be situated : Damoshar, Dela, Lingya and Ling. Above Linga is Kipuk-nima, and in the Niense valley, Niense and Chugudo. Melung has only one hut, now uninhabited. Then come Donglung and Langmar. Above Linga the manis become rarer. Sometimes a single hut without a special name is passed. Geju has two huts. The distances between the villages become greater, and we approach regions

where the absolute altitude dictates the conditions of a nomadic life. The village

of Ke or Ker is not visible from the road. Govo is the last village on this road. 114 s

It consists of 7 huts; only barley is cultivated and the harvest is uncertain; the in-   -~
habitants, therefore, are more nomads than settled and own great flocks of sheep, ;x goats and yaks.

At Shubra, Leynang and Aynang near Chang-la-Pod-la there were in all 6 ri tents. As a rule, it was only very seldom that one or two tents were seen along the ki, road to Dangra-yum-tso. But when it was known that my caravan was approaching, the nomads gathered from the neighbouring valleys; thus at Kyangdam 5o or 6o nomads appeared. At Bumnak there were 3 tents and great flocks of yaks and~~

sheep. West of Ting-la 3 tents were seen. At the eastern foot of Targo-gangri two places, Gyamtso and Dembun, were inhabited by nomads.

It is very difficult to obtain any reliable information about the administrative boundaries. The whole way up to Camp 150 seems to be the province of Tsang or, as it is usually called, Labrang, that is to say: under the jurisdiction of Tashilunpo. Kyamdam was said to be the first place in the district of Largäp, which also belongs to Labrang. The frontier between Labrang and Naktsang territory was shown as situated a short distance below Camp 150, and this seems likely, as I had freedom to move about on Labrang territory, but not in Naktsang, which is directly under Devashung in Lhasa. Therefore I was not allowed to approach Dangrayum-tso as being situated in Naktsang. Largäp is, like all Tibetan provinces and districts, subdivided into a number of districts, each under a chief called Gova. The Largäp territory stretches some days' journey south-westwards from Kyangdam; the Bombo or governor, Jäpa Deva, was said to have his office at Togmo near Ye.

The road from Chaga up through the Dok-chu and Mü-chu valleys is much worn by traffic, and one sees nearly as many passengers and caravans as in the Tsangpo-valley itself, between Ye and Chaga. Especially above and below the Tokcha

6,