India and Tibet : vol.1 / Page 144 (Color Image)

0144	India and Tibet : vol.1

CHAPTER X

KHAMBA JONG

Now that Chinese and Tibetan representatives of some

kind had appeared, even though they were not of much

rank or accredited with much power, I thought it well to

proceed to Khamba Jong to get into touch with them,

and form my own impression of how matters stood. I

therefore rode straight through from Tangu to Khamba

Jong on the 18th, accompanied by Mr. Dover, the

Sikkim engineer, who had made such excellent rough

roads and bridges, and escorted by a few mounted men.

After Tangu the mountain-sides became more and

more barren ; trees were replaced by low shrubs and

dwarf rhododendrons, and higher up they, too, disappeared,

till, when we crossed the Kangra-la (pass), there was

nothing but rough coarse scrub. The pass itself was easy

enough, though it was just over 17,000 feet in height.

As we descended from it we were at length really in

Tibet, and the change was most marked. In place of

narrow valleys were great wide plains, intersected indeed

by distant ranges of mountains, and absolutely devoid of

trees, but open and traversable in every direction. The

sky, too, was clear. The great monsoon clouds were left

behind, and the sun shone with a power which brought

the temperature up to 82° in the shade, and made it

quite uncomfortably hot at midday, though at night there

were 4° of frost.

As we rode on into Tibet and got out into the open,

and well away from the Himalayan range, we obtained

a glorious view of that stupendous range from Chumal-

hari, 24,000 feet, on the extreme east, to Kinchinjunga,

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