TO THE CHANG-CHENMO VALLEY. 9
Tibet. Finally the path goes down the gravelly slope, which is crossed by several small tributary brooks, to the junction with a valley from the right, which, according to the Ladakis, is the Sßanglung proper. Here some grass was growing and we pitched our tents.
From Span:lung- to our camp at Pamsal in the Chang-chenmo valley, the distance amounts to 16 km. and as the height at Pamsal is only 4,529 m., the difference is 579 m. or a fall of I : 27.6. The road goes down the Sftanglung valley N. E. and north. First we go down to the Sj5anglung proper, at the right bank of which there are the ruins of a little house. Then we continue on the right slope of the main valley, less steep than hitherto, and some 4o or 5o m. above the bottom of the valley. Opposite the left tributary, Yardej5, we follow the bottom of the valley, which now becomes broader. Here is a sheepfold of stone; shepherds from Pobrang were said to arrive here about the end of November and to stay in the valley during the winter. In the early hours the joint brook was much smaller than the evening before and could perhaps carry 2 cub. m. per second. Most of the bottom of the valley is covered with gravel, tiring for the animals. Gulhläs is the name of a tributary from the left side with a second sheepfold and some pasture. It is, however, difficult to see how sheep can live in this barren region. Probably the shepherds take them up into protected side valleys where grass is more abundant.
At the place where the main valley turns N. E., and then north, two tributary valleys, viz. Kanglung and Kuyung, open from the right. Both have brooks coming from the range we passed in Marsimik-la, and some of whose snowy crests and peaks are seen in the background of the valleys. In these valleys grazing-grounds are said to exist. Through the Kanglung valley a path is said to cross the range over an ice-covered pass which can be used only on foot. Kuyung has also a path which goes to 7u, a place on the other side of the range. The brooks from these valleys increase the main brook which gradually grows bigger on its way down to Pamsal. The whole region is grey gravel, boulders and blocks of gneiss-granite, but living rock is, for a long while, not attainable. Sometimes small patches of grass are passed. The brook is followed on both sides by three beautifully developed erosion terraces generally some 2 o m. high. Sometimes one or two of them are subdivided into several, and lower down 6 or 7 terraces could be reckoned on the right side of the valley. They are best seen at places where tributaries cut their way through them. As a rule the road sticks to the top of the lowest terrace on the left side. The terraces are very eloquent remains from the time, the pluvial epoch, when the precipitation was much richer than nowadays.
Finally we reach a place with living rock, the same gneiss-granite as the gravel. The brook everywhere forms rapids, and there are no quiet reaches between them. Erosion is busy at work in this peripheric region with effluence to the sea. Such
2. IV.
IIIFカラー高解像度
